What a week it had been leading up to our wedding day. Brandon’s mom, Darlene, got sick that week and then on Thursday, Brandon came down sick. It was Friday and time to finish some last minute errands and meet the wedding designer and rental company at the venue to take care of a few final details, but my heart was to be with Brandon and take care of him as he was feeling so bad. It was time to start praying and get things done. This was our wedding weekend and I was determined it was going to be everything I had ever dreamed of.
As I was on my way to The Old Place in Gautier, MS where we would be married, I called to check on Brandon. He sounded horrible so I just started praying over him as I drove. When I arrived at The Old Place, I met my wedding designer, Jessie with Agape Special Events, fast at work taking care of little details that I didn’t even know needed to take place. My parents were already there as well as two of my aunts and grandmother helping to unload all of our belongings and wedding items. We had purchased and made several décor pieces to use within our wedding ceremony and reception; I didn’t realize how much we had until we had to unload two trucks and a trailer. LOL. After all was unloaded, I was able to do one last walk through with Jessie of all the wedding ceremony and reception details. It gave me such peace of mind to be able to walk through it all and begin to see the pieces of the wedding planning come to reality. The rental company had yet to make it before I had to leave to go finish running errands, but I knew everything was in great hands.
By the time I finished everything and got back home, I felt a little rushed getting ready for the rehearsal and dinner; mainly because I had been running all over town taking care of things and concerned about Brandon. At this point I was unsure if he would be able to make the rehearsal, but when my phone rang and it was Brandon, I knew this was going to be a great day. He was feeling somewhat better and said he would be there to pick me up shortly. It was then that it hit me, “Oh my goodness, I am getting ready for my rehearsal and dinner.” I was so excited.
Brandon arrived and we were off to the rehearsal. When we arrived, several of our bridal party members and family were already there. Jessie was still busy at work finishing up details and getting ready to help Brandon’s Aunt Lisa with the rehearsal. Aunt Lisa was blessing us by being our wedding day of coordinator and Jessie had graciously offered to stay for the rehearsal and walk us through the details then turn things over to Aunt Lisa. Everything went amazing. Everyone listened and things went so smoothly. We had the most amazing bridal party!! Before we left for the evening to head to the rehearsal dinner, Jessie walked me through things one last time as now most all of the rentals were setup and the inside of the house décor was in place. I was overwhelmed with how beautiful everything was coming together and so excited to see all the final pieces in place tomorrow.
Our rehearsal dinner was being held at Bobo’s Restaurant in Lucedale, MS. Mr. Paul and Mrs. Darlene had rented out a private area for us to have the dinner in. Everything was so beautiful. Mrs. Darlene had put a lot of effort in making this a special time and memory for us. Brandon’s Uncle Corey asked the blessing over the food and prayed over us before we ate. The food was amazing. We had a buffet menu of hamburger steak, fried fish, grilled and fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, macaroni and cheese, and cupcakes for dessert. Needless to say no one left hungry. Brandon and I decided to exchange our gifts to each other at the rehearsal dinner. We also gave our parents and bridal party their gifts as well. It was a wonderful time and we can not thank Mr. Paul and Mrs. Darlene enough for everything they did to make this such an amazing memory for us.
What started as a bit of a stressful day turned into one of the most wonderful memories for us. The day ended a bit bitter sweet as we had to say goodnight, but knowing it was the last time to say goodnight as Miss Madalyn Hinton and that tomorrow I would be Mrs. Madalyn Salter made things oh so sweet. As we kissed goodnight, Brandon whispered and said, “Let’s not text any tomorrow. Let’s just see each other at the altar.” 🙂 Tomorrow, what a great day it would be and I could hardly wait.
Pictures Provided By: Madalyn Hinton Slater
Rehearsal Dinner Venue & Catering: Bobo’s Restaurant, Lucedale, MS